Brace for boxed produce loads



Ami '29, 1947. N, AM v 2,419,754

BRACE BOXED PRODUCE LOADS Filed July 11, 1944 V w Wvswroa 2 /4' JosephNAoams lffarne g Patented Apr. 29, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEBRACE' FOR BOXED PRODUCE LOADS Joseph N. Adams, Orange, Califl, assignorto California Fruit Growers Exchange, Los Angeles, Calif.,. acorporation of California Application July 11, 1944, Serial N0. 544,380

4 Claims. (01. 105-369) This-invention relates in generalto improvedcar. In, accordance, with the above nomenclamethods. and means forpreparing unit loads of ture, it becomes possible therefore to locateanyboxed or crated' fruits or vegetables. The invenbox within the car bydefining its position, with tion further relates to methods and meansfor reference to the stack, layer; and row. loading railroad cars withboxed or crated prod- 5 When loading, refr gerator cars with boxed usein a manner adapted to maintain the rigidcitrus fruit, as for exampleoranges, it has been ity and. stability of the load duringtransportacustomary in the past to tier the boxes two-high ion. on end,in stacks seven boxes wide. 'Ihirty-three As those familiar with theloading of boxed such two-layer stacks ordinarily made a. full loadproduce know, it is extremely difilcult to preof 462 boxes. In order. tocomply with regulapare a load in a manner adequate to maintaintions-requiring, heavier loads, it has been proposed the load inposition during a haul of any length to add a. third layer of boXesstanding on, end. without serious shifting during transit. As a Thedifiiculties of loading and adequately bracconsequence, for exam le, inthe loading of railing such a load to prevent excessive breakage androad. cars with boxed produce, complex bracing damage to the contentsduring loading and systems are installed either during the loadingtransit made. it seem to someto be economically of the car or after thecar has been loaded in unsound to continue itsv use. However, since itorder to give the load atisfactory stability and has been necessary totransport heavier loads to prevent breakage of the containers anddamthan the former two-layer'load, the cars. are still age. to theperishable'sbeing transported. loaded with a third layer but the boxesmaking up During normal times, satisfactory loading of this third layerare now placed on their bottoms boxed produce to prevent shifting andbreakage instead of on end as first suggested. For a time wasaccomplished by several different methods. the boxes of the third layerwere placed end to However, under the stress of emergency condiendlongitudinally of the car, that is with the intions, it has b com necesary t devise loads diyidual' boxes parallel to the wal s, and for whichincrease the amount of produce carried, so the full length of the car.It was soon found, that the methods of bracing the load heretoforehowevcr,. that the boxes could not stand the u ed are, for the mostpart, inadequate and not tremendous shock sometimes imparted to themadaptable. to the heavier loads. when the car was started or stoppedenroute.

Before: disclosing this invention in detail, it Also adeq ate: brac g ofthis load presented s0 is; believed desirable to verify the exactsignifimany problems that this type of load is now little cance ofseveral terms for those who may'not be used. Experience shows that thedifficulty encompletely familiar with the nomenclature used counteredwith. the third. layer loads results inoonnection with loading of boxedproduce in from the fact that the higher the boxes. are load.-

refrlgerator cars and particularly citrus fruit ed in. the. car, themore. susceptible they are to The term stack as used in this art isapplied transverse movement and, longitudinal shock. to: the group ofboxes placed in one line trans- Great stress and strain is placedon theload in versely across the width of a railroad car. A general as well asthe individual boxes from the stack may be composed of one or morelayers starting and: stopping of the cars in transit. To

of boxes. The. layer of boxes resting on the floor ll minimize theeffect of this'shock, it was found of the car is the first layer.Additional layers desirable to orient-the containers so that theirplaced ontop of the first layer are designated as reatest. strengthwould e opposed to the line the second layer, third layer, etc. Th topof greatest shock. In this connection a so layer, especially when theindividual. boxes are called deck'layer or'deck load; was used,comprishorizontal, may sometimes be spoken of as the 4: ing threeboxesplaced: transversely end to end "deck layer. The "rows of boxes arethose across the tenor each stack; By so doing, the

boxes extending in a line the length of the car, ends and center boardsof the boxes were longithe rows being parallel to the side wall. Thistudinal of the car and were thus position terminology is intended to beobserved throughtoabsorb the stresses and strains of starting outthis-application. Ordinarily the brake end and stopping How ver,byarranging the third of the. car-is used to begin numbering the stacks,layer in his: manner a f rth r mplic ion so that the stack placedagainst the brake end arose, namely, the bracing of the third layer toof the car is called the first stack. The rows are maintain it inposition. The inside width ot a ordinarily numbered beginning with thefirst refrigerator car averages about ninety-nine rowon the left as onefaces the brake end of the inches. Three boxes of: oranges, for.example,

placed laterally end to end leave an additional space or channel ofabout twenty to twenty-one inches. It became necessary, therefore, todevelop some type of brace for this space in order to keep these boxesin line and from shifting during transit. The construction and use of asatisfactory brace in connection with this third layer or deck loadcomprises the principal object of this invention.

Other objects and advantages and modifications will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art as the description proceeds in connection with theaccompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of an end portion of a refrigerator carloaded with boxed oranges and showing the new and novel box brace inposition.

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective showing in detail the placement of thebox brace with respect to the boxes being braced.

Fig. 3 is aview showing apreferred embodiment of the box brace.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view showing a preferred form of imbedding means.

Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged views showing modifications of the imbeddingelement.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and in particular to Fig. 1, theboxes of oranges ID are stacked on end within the refrigerator car toform the first and second layers. The walls of the car are designated asH and the end of the car as I2. While the views in the drawing do notshow the complete load, the boxes of oranges III are loaded on end andstacked two-high to form thirtythree stacks within the car. On top ofthese stacks of boxes there is placed a third or deck layer comprisingthree boxes placed end to end across the top of each stack. Each stack,therefore, contains seven boxes of the first layer, seven of the second,and three of the deck layer, making seventeen boxes.

As mentioned hereinbefore, three boxes of oranges placed end to endacross the car leave a space of about twenty inches which is not filled.In order to maintain the third layer in position, it is necessary tobrace these boxes rigidly against the walls of the car. It will be seenthat in the arrangement illustrated the third layer is arranged so thattwo rows of boxes If] are placed along one side of the car and one rowalong the opposite side of the car. Bracing or spacing means arepositioned in the channel between the rows of boxes. For bracing thethird layer the brace shown in detail in Fig. 3 has been found to bespecially adapted and satisfactory in all respects. This brace comprisesa rigid member I3 with a positioning means I4 inserted into andprojecting from each end thereof. As an integral part of the positioningmeans Hi there is an imbedding element IS. The positioning means of thebrace thereby comes into position between the adjacent boxes of theopposed boxes. The boxes in the third layer are consequently bracedfirmly in position and the brace itself is held in position by theimbedding element at each end thereof which becomes imbedded in thesides of the adjacent boxes as will be explained more in detailhereinafter.

In loading a refrigerator car with boxedcitrus, as for example, oranges,to make a so-called 561 load, the boxes are usually trucked into the carfrom one side only. The doors of the car opposite the loading side areclosed. The boxes of fruit are stacked on end along the end of the carto form the first and second layers of the first stack.

Then three boxes of fruit are placed bottom side down transverselyacross the first stack to begin the third layer. Additional boxes arethen trucked into the car and the first and second layer of the secondstack are put in place. A brace of the type shown in Fig. 3 comprisingthe rigid member l3 with its two positioning means i4 is then placed inthe channel remaining between the boxes of the third layer atop thefirst stack. Then the next three boxes of fruit are placed on top of thesecond stack. Successive stacks are then built up in a similar manneruntil the space within the car is filled, except for that portion in thecenter opposite the car doors. Ordinarily to save time, a car is loadedwith boxes from both ends toward the middle. A box press or squeeze isthen positioned in this space and expanded in such a known manner as topress the stacks of boxes tightly together toward the ends of the car,thereby tightening the load. After the loadhas been suflicientlytightened, the press is removed and additional boxes and channel bracesare placed in the space opposite the open doors. Where the loadcomprises thirty-three stacks as in the case of oranges and the bracesare placed so that only one brace is used for each two opposed pairs ofboxes, seventeen such braces are required for complete bracing of thethird layer. Obviously a brace could be positioned for each adjacentpair of boxes if desired.

The brace disclosed and illustrated in the drawings and particularly inFig. 3 may be made in accordance with the following description,although it is to be understood that many modifications in type and kindof materials used in its construction may be made without departing fromthe general principles set forth. For exam pic, I choose to constructthe rigid member 13 of wood. A block having the dimensions of 2 by 3 by20 inches forms a satisfactorily rigid member. The positioning means I4is made desirably of metal and may be inserted in the block so as toleave about two inches projecting therefrom to form a satisfactorypositioning means. The imbedding element of the positioning means may belarger in size than the shaft thereof in order that it may become firmlyimbedded in the sides of the boxes when the load is tightened with thecar squeeze in accordance with the description hereinabove set forth.Having the imbedding element pressed into the sides of the boxes assistsmaterially in maintaining the brace in position and preventsdisplacement of the brace by jumping or buckling. In some cases it maybe desirable to use only absence of an imbedding positioning meansitself may become the sides of the boxes.

It should be understood that not infrequently there is a strong tendencyfor elements of the load to undergo considerable shifting. Thus theability of my brace to maintain itself in position, and not move or jumpout of place, is a very important advantage. For, once boxes become freeto move about, they will quickly be destroyed.

In Figs. 5 and 6 there are disclosedmodifications of the imbeddingdicated by the numbers 16 and I1 respectively. The length of the shaftof the positioning means is a matter of convenience but it should beadequate to insure a firm hold of the rigid member l3 and yet projectsufficiently beyond the end of the member to insure that it will act toposi tion the brace. The size and shape of the imelement whereupon theimbedded in the positioning means in the element. These are inbeddingelement may be varied as desired and necessary.

ihe size of the rigid member I3 is also one of convenience, although itshould be of such size as to give good bracing qualities. While I havementioned blocks of wood having dimensions of about 2 by 3, heavierblocks, as 2 by 4s or even 4 by 4s or lighter blocks such as 1 by 3scould be used. Materials other than wood of course come within the scopeof the invention as, for example, various metals. When metals are used,the imbedding means should preferably be brazed or welded to the ends ofthe rigid member. It is obvious also that under some circumstances itmay be desirable to use a modification of the hereinabove disclosedbrace in which a positioning member and imbedding element project fromone end only of the rigid member.

Having thus described my invention in such full, clear, concise, andexact language as to enable others skilled in the art to make and usethe same I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentthe following:

1. A box brace adapted to be placed between the ends of two opposedpairs of boxes in a load in such a manner as to rigidly space apart saidtwo opposed pairs of boxes comprising a rigid one piece spacing memberof sufficient length to bear upon the ends of the two opposed pairs ofboxes in the load, a one piece projection positioned in and extendingfrom each end of said member, said projection being adapted to beinserted between the adjacent boxes of said pairs of boxes in such amanner that a portion of the end of the rigid spacing member will bearupon the end of each of the adjacent boxes of the pair, said projectionhaving a laterally extending portion adapted to pierce and becomeimbedded in the adjacent sides of said adjacent boxes.

2. A box brace adapted to be placed between the ends of opposed boxes ina load in such a manner as to rigidly space apart said opposed boxescomprising a rigid spacing member of sufficient length to bear upon theends of the opposed boxes in the load, means projecting from each end ofsaid member, said means being adapted to be inserted between adjacentpairs of said boxes and to become imbedded in the adjacent boxes of saidadjacent pairs.

3. For use in stabilizing boxed a spacer unit comprising a memberadapted to be placed between and in engagement with the ends ofoppositely positioned spaced pairs of boxes and at each side of theinterengaging sides of the boxes in each pair, and a rigid one pieceprojection carried by and extending beyond said member and receivablebetween interengaging vertically extending sides of the boxes of one ofsaid spaced pairs of boxes to prevent horizontal shifting of the bracerelative to the boxes, said projection having an integral lateralportion adapted to pierce and become imbedded in the outer surface ofone of the interengaging box sides to hold the spacer unit againstupward displacement.

4. A box brace adapted to be placed between the ends of two opposedpairs of boxes in a load in such a manner as to rigidly space apart saidtwo opposed pairs of boxes comprising a rigid spacing member ofsufiicient length to bear upon the ends of the two opposed pairs ofboxes in the load, projecting means secured in and extending from eachend of said member, each of said means being provided with aperimetrical imbedding element, said projecting means adapted to beinserted between the sides of adjacent boxes of said pairs of boxes insuch manner that the imbedding element will pierce and become imbeddedtherein and a portion of the end of the rigid spacing member will bearupon the end of each of the adjacent boxes of the pair.

produce loads,

JOSEPH N. ADAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 22,256 Hoak Jan. 26, 19431,993,216 Marshall Mar. 5, 1935 2,156,866 Pierce May 2, 1939 2,341,088Ellis Feb. 8, 1944 1,193,597 Oliver et al Aug. 8, 1916

